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Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

by Gold Hat Productions

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Latest episodes

  • Omen V. Is God a Protestant?

    October 27, 2026 · 34 min

    When the Tory grandee David Davis stood up in the House of Commons and said there were ‘IRA lawyers’ who were ‘more interested in drama than justice’, there was an understandable response. In 1988 a Tory minister had said that some…

  • The Age of Anxiety and Anger with Elif Shafak

    October 24, 2026 · 51 min

    In 2006, Elif Shafak was charged with 'insulting Turkishness' because of words uttered by a fictional character in one of her novels. She had been born to Turkish parents in France and grew up in Ankara but now she lives in London. On Free…

  • The Late Stage Capitalism of Arsenal and the Premier League is coming for you

    October 22, 2026 · 33 min

    When Arsenal announced they were cutting 60 jobs at the home of the Premier League champions, the manager Mikel Arteta said he had been told it was to "achieve the success we want to create". With the help of management consultants…

  • Why we talked to Jamie Bryson

    October 20, 2026 · 36 min

    There was an extraordinary response to Jamie Bryson’s appearance on the podcast. What does that tell us about what people want in the north and what people are talking about in the south? On Free State today we ask if these are…

  • Football's tribalism and why it matters

    October 17, 2026 · 44 min

    Damien Pearse is a psychologist and he is also a football fan. Why does it affect him so much when his side loses and what does it tell us about the modern world? On Free State today he talks to Dion about why we want to belong and why we…

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  • Jamie Bryson vs Joe Brolly: A Free State Special

    October 15, 2026 · 49 min

    Who is Jamie Bryson and what does he want? On Free State today Jamie Bryson talks to Joe and Dion about Garvaghy Road, the Orange Order and a United ireland. His conversation with Joe is heated and contentious as they talk about these and…

  • Zombie Drumcree and the march that died of shame

    October 13, 2026 · 54 min

    Anne Cadwallader covered the Drumcree events in the late 1990s. She remembers the tension of those days and the work Rosemary Nelson did at that time. On Free State today she talks to Joe and Dion about Rosemary Nelson's murder. She talks…

  • Iran, Erectile Dysfunction and the Cold War

    October 10, 2026 · 34 min

    “This man's issue and the reason why he did what he did changes the world,” Ben MacIntyre says. “He changed the world that we now live in. Without this person we would probably be living in a different world.” On today’s Free State we…

  • Does Drumcree spell the end for William Ulsterman?

    October 8, 2026 · 43 min

    Drumcree is now a peace dividend. Where once the attempt to march led to violence, destruction and death, now it leads to court wranglings, endless negotiations and the support for the Garvaghy Road residents from Noel Gallagher. On Free…

  • Will Garvaghy Road lead to a United Ireland?

    October 6, 2026 · 49 min

    Thousands gathered on Garvaghy Road determined that there would be no going back. A new generation, confident and assured, are determined that the north chooses a different road. But what is it about a parade of elderly orange men that…

  • 'I was annoyed for a long time about how a lot of Southerners other Northerners'

    October 3, 2026 · 43 min

    Louise Kennedy's first novel Trespasses was a beautiful and heartbreaking story of the Troubles. In her new novel Stations she deals with the loss and sacrifice of emigration. Louise talks to Dion about moving from the north to Naas when…

  • Nasty F****r. The obsession of Peter O’Mahony

    October 1, 2026 · 54 min

    In November 2023, Peter O’Mahony sat down for a meeting with his coach at Munster Graham Rowntree where the reality of a professional sportsman’s life became brutally clear. On that same day, Peter and Dion met for the first time to begin…

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About the show

Free State is a podcast for the curious that stimulates, provokes, challenges and entertains, while never taking itself too seriously. Free State covers topics from sport to politics, love to loss, the human condition and how to fix the world, with guests from across the planet including Nigerian princes, former Prime Ministers, ex convicts, footballers, boxers and extraordinary people from every walk of life.  Free State is presented by Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning. Brolly is a barrister, an original thinker with a fascinating backstory, who donated a kidney to a stranger and then led a crusade to transform organ donation on the island of Ireland, and Fanning is an award-winning interviewer and author.  They are not motivational gurus or life coaches. They are two people from very different worlds, with one core belief uniting them - this is not a high performance podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.